Chain elements according to the class are used, e.g., as chain drives or parts of corresponding chain drives for transmitting forces and are used in a number of different fields of technology, for example, in the field of automotive engineering.
Chain elements are typically formed from steels that can receive particularly large mechanical loads due to the high mechanical loads that prevail during operation. It is further known to provide chain elements, especially in areas contacting other chain elements or other components, with a surface modification that influences the mechanical properties, in particular, surface hardening, which is to be understood as a wear-resistant coating that is stable with respect to corrosive media. A corresponding surface modification, that is, in particular, the formation of a special surface layer, can be used, for example, to impart a changed property spectrum to the substrate material forming the chain element in the area of its surface. For example, a material, especially a steel, can be provided with a certain strength and tenacity with an especially wear-resistant and corrosion-stable surface layer and in this way can be changed in a targeted manner in its mechanical properties. Known methods for modifying the surface of steels, that is, for forming corresponding surface layers, are, for example, case hardening (carbonization), nitriding, and/or the application of coatings based on titanium or molybdenum.
However, the surface layers formed by corresponding processes are not satisfactory or only conditionally satisfactory with regard to the particularly wear-intensive and optionally also corrosive conditions in the field of application of corresponding chain elements that are produced, e.g., by contamination with lubricants or lubricant residues or combustion residues of internal combustion engines, for the later application.